Only second to US in terms of digital economy, China has expanded its digital economy from being third in 2018 by maintaining a high growth rate of 9.7 percent in 2020. This is amid the pandemic and global economic downturn, where adoption of digital use of transaction grew exponentially.
According to a published paper issued by China Academy of Information and Communication Technology Beijing, the growth rate of the digital economy was more than three times that of the GDP indicating to the importance the segment is showing in spurring economic development.
In its report the state agency also included the scale of China’s digital economy which is at 39.2 trillion yuan (about RM24 trillion) last year, accounting for 38.6 percent of the GDP, which effectively supported epidemic prevention and control, as well as economic development. The digital economy in Beijing and Shanghai both accounted for more than half of its regional GDP.
Last year, 13 provinces, municipalities and autonomous regions achieved a digital economy scale of more than one trillion yuan, with another eight regions exceeding 500 billion yuan in 2020, assed the paper.
China has its sight set on digital economy development as emphasis being expanded in 14th Five-Year Plan (2021-2025) to build a leading digital nation.
